Ave NECROWRETCH, I have been listening your novelty named
„Satanic Slavery“ for some time and I am still discovering new and new
pieces of darkness. To be honest I did expect a really good job from you, but I
haven't expected that you will kick my ass as much as you did. I think that the album is really great. What
feedback do you have from the fans, what
about the reviews?

Vlad: Pozdravy! Satanic Slavery is by far
the best material in our history, I know every band say the same about their
new album, but we are really proud of the work we’ve done. Unlike the previous
recordings, we were way more experienced and prepared when we entered the
studio last year. All the songs were recorded live and everything was done very
fast in a natural way, just like if we were playing in concert. I think this
live feeling is a real plus to the album and by far everyone seems to really
like the album.

Have you already played some songs from the novelty in concerts? What
are the fans' reactions? Do you have any potential hit? My personal guess woult
be the second piece, "Tredeciman Blackfire".

Vlad : Yes we play almost all the new songs in live, Tredeciman
Blackfire, Sprawl of Sin and Satanic Slavery are the big hits of the live show,
of course we also play classics songs from the previous albums and EP.

The album has a cover full of
symbols, which is typical for you. Who is the author and what should it
portray?

Vlad : We’ve asked the grandmaster Nekronikon from Chile to work on this
artwork. I knew his work from years and I had the feeling he can create the
sickest art for our sickest album. So I’ve sent him the lyrics of the song
Satanic Slavery and he created something around it. In the end we couldn’t had
expect the artwork to be so close of our music and it was definitly the best
choice to work with him.

Lyrics are sometimes being forgotten in death metal. You are singing
about darkness, death, satanism. What are the lyrics on the new album about and
who wrote them? Are you trying to communicate something by them, to convey some
message?

Vlad : Most of the lyrics were created together with two good friends of
mine, that is always the same process for all album of Necrowretch. The songs
talk about the devil in all his form and our twisted vision of so called holy
texts. Our message is: follow nothing but sin and lust.

The new album has a really dark and sharp sound but still slightly
different from previous albums. It feels „older“ to me. The album is again
attributed to Patrick W. Engel, who also made your previous recordings. Heve
you worked differently this time? Did Patrick get a different assignment from
you this time?

Vlad: The big difference is this time we’ve
choosen a better studio (Downtown studio, France) to record all the
instruments. From the drumkit to the mic or the amps, everything was way better
than the previous studios we’ve recorded. We sent all these good recording to
Engel and his work was way more easy and better with such good material.
Patrick know what our death metal is about, I think we have the same taste in
music with classic of Death, Merciless, Grotesque... In the end, Satanic
Slavery sound is the best in our history.

„Satanic Slavery“ was released by Season of Mist Underground Activists.
The previous record was released at Century Media. Why this change? Were you
not satisfied? I'm curious because a label is very important nowadays. It makes
album more visible and promotes it and I personally - being a layman - do not
see a big difference between these two labels.

Vlad: At a certain point we had divergences with Century Media, we
together felt that everyone has reached the maximum of each other and our
collaboration wasn’t sucessfull anymore. We’re now working with french label,
we can say that the band is back home. So far the communication is very good
and everything seems promising for the future.

You play a typical old death metal. You have never left this way, you
are "orthodox". Personally, this is one of the reasons why I like
your work so much, but have you ever thought about playing something a bit
different, to give NECROWRETCH some variety?

Vlad: No, I have a vision of extreme metal I wish to play and not
something else. From the first demo to the last album, many changes occured in
the music, the attitude, the lyrics... In the early days we were just playing
„in the vein of...“ , but after the first album we created our own sound and
identity. In a certain way I think that Satanic Slavery is a real proof that
Necrowretch is a unique band, and not just a copy.

Nowadays, most people just download new albums from the internet and use
only their digital form. How do you look at this topic? I'm interested in your
opinion as a musician.

Vlad: In a certain way download is good because everyone can access the
music, even in the poorest country of the world. The most important for me is
that the people support the music, by coming at the shows, sharing the music
online, making interviews, etc.... Music is something you live at 100% so move
your ass to the concerts and supports the organisers!

Recently, a lot of young bands have started to play old school death
metal again. Most of them aren't very good, but we can found a few decent bands
who understood, what it's about. Do you have any favorite band that you think
has the potential to "revive the good old times"?

Vlad: I agree with you, that noways there is so many bands playing
black/death music but most of them are so boring with 0 identity. One band I
really like to listen is Exhumation with their last album Opus Death, this is
clearly the best album from a new band I’ve listened since the first
Tribulation album almost ten years ago.

In the texts, you are dealing with anti-Christianity, Satanism, and
darkness. Why these topics? Do you want to tell something by them, spread some
message? In our country, we are very tolerant to similar texts. How is it in
France? Have you ever had problems with the church? Has anyone refused to let
you play, etc.?

Vlad: We live in a world where everyday people are killed because of
religion. It’s not just anti Christianity, our music spit on every kind of
proselityzing. There is no rules, just live your life as you wish, be free to
think what you want.

What about the plans of NECROWRETCH in the upcoming months? Will you
support a new album by some tour and are you comming to visit us in the Czech
republic?

Vlad: We have many shows and festivals in preparation, we will
desecrate every inch of holy soil everywhere we can cross.

Thank you very much for the interview. I wish your new album good sales
and gigs full of crazy fans and I'll be looking forward to meeting you
somewhere again!